You know what they say: “One man's trash is another man's treasure.” Francisco de Pájaro decided to take this saying quite literally. And we absolutely love it!

Born in Barcelona, Pájaro is the creator of a peculiar project aptly named Art is Trash. What he does is both simple and genius: he turns our bin-bags and broken furniture into human figures, animals and monsters.
His work will make you laugh and ultimately think about society’s decay. Francisco de Pájaro is far more than an artist: he is a critic, a man who paints against capitalism, greed, vanity and selfishness.

In his official webpage we can read that “Art is Trash is an ephemeral and continuous shout against human stupidity.” If you take a close look, you’ll find that his yellow-eyed figures represent an extravagant critique to our society’s obsession with perfection and unbridled consumption.

While most people don’t give garbage a second chance, Francisco discovered a new world full of potential. In the end, it all comes down to this: if rubbish is the only legal place you can make art on the street, just get creative!

Francisco usually works in the evenings, shortly after the shops have closed and emptied their waste onto the streets outside. Armed with brushes, basic colors and adhesive tape, he will turn an old bathroom door into a homeless man being expelled from his shelter by the local police.

However, his masterpieces have a short life.

Rearranged by garbage collectors, wind, rain and thieves, Pájaro’s sculptures don’t usually make it through the day. But worry not, my curious fellow! Pictures of his trash figures, accompanied with the hashtag #artistrash, are shared on social media by those lucky enough to run into them.
Francisco describes the internet as a “huge gallery” where his ephemeral work can find a permanent home. As he said, this way many more people see his work this way than if he were in a gallery.

After Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza and London - where he currently lives – we never know what city he will take on next.

Hopefully soon enough many of us will have the pleasure to see his sculptures in real life. Until then, let me make you feel a bit jealous: I have a cardboard box painted by him on display in my living room.
Yes, I am a thief. And above that, a street art lover!